Minnesota Articulation Project

CARLA's involvement in articulation projects began with the Minnesota Articulation Project (MNAP), a statewide initiative that involved the active collaboration of over 50 world language professionals representing 23 public schools and post-secondary institutions (both public and private). From 1993-1997, second language K-12 teachers, second language faculty from colleges and universities, and second language researchers from the University of Minnesota worked on developing a model for articulating French, German, and Spanish curricular strategies and outcomes with a focus on the transition from high school to postsecondary institutions. The ultimate goal was to foster continuity and persistence in language study through a proficiency-oriented approach to language instruction and assessment.

The products developed as a result of the collaboration between MNAP and CARLA include:

• a statement outlining the principles underlying proficiency-oriented language instruction and assessment which guided the development of the project;
• a battery of assessments for reading, writing, and speaking in French, German, and Spanish, to assess proficiency at the ACTFL Intermediate-Low level; and
• the MNAP's Proficiency-Oriented Language Instruction and Assessment: A Curriculum Handbook for Teachers, which provides world language teachers with the background knowledge, ideas, and resources for implementing proficiency-oriented language instruction and classroom-based performance measures into their curriculum.

Response to these resources has been overwhelmingly positive, and the work of the Minnesota Articulation Project has clearly positioned Minnesota as a national leader in articulating language instruction. In recognition of this leadership, the Modern Language Association invited members of the Minnesota Articulation Project to participate in a national articulation mentoring program from 1998-2000.

MNAP was funded through the Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning (MNDCFL) by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. The project was administered by the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) and led by faculty at the University of Minnesota.

• Background on the Minnesota Articulation Project
  
  
• Photo scrapbook for the Minnesota Articulation Project

Related projects:

• Proficiency-Oriented Language Instruction and Assessment (POLIA)
• The Critical Languages Articulation Project